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| Hope someone can help me identify this bush it is over 6 feet tall and is covered with all those blue berries, notice the bottom where the crowns would be on a blue, these do not have them??? What are they can i pick them and eat them??? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| yes |
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- Posted by momgardens1 none (My Page) on Fri, Aug 10, 12 at 17:38
| yes it is blueberry or yes it is huckleberry? |
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| Looks more like blueberry. |
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- Posted by gardengal48 PNW zone 8 (My Page) on Sun, Aug 12, 12 at 15:31
| Definitely a Vaccinium species of some kind (includes both blueberry and huckleberry) and there are dozens. All produce edible berries, some much tastier than others. |
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| Huckleberry fruit has 10 large, hard seeds. Blueberries have many small, soft seeds. Huckleberry stems are smooth while blueberry stems are 'warty'. And I read somewhere that blueberry juice is clear and huckleberry juice is blue. I picked blueberries the other day, so I can confirm that's true for blueberries, and I think I remember getting blue juice on me last year when I was picking huckleberries at my Mom's. |
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| Common names notwithstanding, "huckleberry" in the eastern US often refers to plants in the genus Gaylussacia. Yes, the number of seeds is an indicator, but I would not describe the seeds of Gaylussacia as "large" but perhaps "larger" than blueberry. They are still quite edible (the seeds) so small enough not to notice except a moment's observation. In my opinion. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Info on black huckleberry
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| My description of huckleberry fruit assumed (perhaps wrongly) a member of the Vaccinium genus, based on momgardens1 living in zone 8, which is PNW territory. On closer inspection of the photo, a couple of things came into clearer focus: First, the leaves are wrong for V. ovatum (evergreen huckleberry); and second, the berries in the photo do seem to lack the obvious corymb remnants typical of the V. corymbosum species (highbush blueberries). The plant could be V. angustifolium (low bush blueberries) - doubtful because of the size reported (lowbush called that because they don't grow as high as the 'highbush' from what I've been told), or a cross-cultivar of high and lowbush, something that is quite common in the nursery trade in developing cultivars that combine the best traits of both species. - Or it could be Gaylussacia, which I can't speak to at all reliably. I do know that highbush and lowbush blueberries are the species most common in cultivation and the most commonly available nationwide through commercial sources. If the plant was bought at a nursery, it's probably one of those two, or a cross-cultivar between the two, but which cultivar it is may never be known. I'd advise momgardens1 to wait until it blooms next year, then go to the nursery and see what else is blooming at that time, and that might get her close to an ID. And while I was there, I would buy 2 or 3 more cultivars that are blooming at the same time to plant near it, because 'blueberries' (V. corymbosum and V. angustifolium, maybe more) have increased yields when planted with different cultivars vs. plants of the same cultivar. |
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| bjoy2, you have left the majority of zone 8 in the US out...only a small part is in the PNW. And I took the 'nc' in the OP's post to be N. Carolina. Momgarden....come back and fill us in. For starters, did you find these in the wild, or are they in a cultivated area? That is important info! |
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- Posted by momgardens1 8 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 4, 12 at 21:29
| Bjoy2 and my time, these bushes were surrounded a single tree in my backyard there are several "bushes", a better discription would be there are many single sticks coming out and spreading with foliage and the berries, I did not notice any blooms prior to berries, and I was watching for them this is the second season I have been watching, but the berries ripened June this year. I live in south eastern nc. I moved into the house last summer and the bunches were here there is no other woody area around it so I'm guessing someone planted these here, hope that helps, and thank you all for the feedback, would love to pick next year if I can. |
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- Posted by Dzitmoidonc 6 (My Page) on Tue, Sep 4, 12 at 23:00
| I was wondering why Blueberry pics would show up in Sept. You say they ripen in June. I bet they would be what they call Rabbit Eyes in NC, high bush blueberries. Bjoy2, low bush blueberries are just that, low, low bush. Often called Wild Blueberries as opposed to the larger Cultivated Blueberries. The wild kind only has vestigal seeds and they have to be grown from roots. This kind only grows in northern climates and the plants rarely exceed one foot in height. The berries are about the size of the 'O' on a keyboard. |
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| Yeah, I know there are other zone 8 areas of the country. I've lived in or visited several, I just happen to live in the PNW now, and see 'Zone 8' on all the NW forum postings. I sometimes I forget which forum I'm in, and just assume PNW when I see Zone 8. Gaylussacia huckleberries are native to the eastern US, and Vaccinium huckleberries are native to the PNW. Since I assumed zone 8 to be PNW, naturally, I assumed vaccinium. One error compunding another. |
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| Vaccinium also grow very well in North Carolina and other states. They have the common name of "blueberry" in the east. And when it comes to someone posting pictures, unless they say so - you can't assume that the picture is of the plant as it is now. We frequently have to ask "is this picture current?". |
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- Posted by momgardens1 8 (My Page) on Wed, Sep 5, 12 at 9:43
| I took this pic the day I posted the thread which was august of this year so yes this pic is current, I would like to add, that these berries seem smaller than an average blueberry and go from white to blue with some turning red they are tall 5-6 feet. The inside is white fleshy no scent with several tiny white seeds and if this helps the birds do eat it. |
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| These are likely wild blueberries which are smaller in general than the ones you buy in the store which have been bred to be larger and sweeter than the wild ones. I do believe that you could still have blueberries ripening on the bush in August - especially if you are at higher elevations. I saw plenty of berries on the bushes as I higher in the Smokies about 10 days ago. |
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